The Game of Life
by dark-night-sky
Summary: Louis/Scor. Louis lost something, what happens when Scorpius helps him find it?


**Title:** The Game of Life

**Pairing:** Louis Weasley/Scorpius Malfoy

**Wordcount:** More than 200 words

**Prompt:** Louis lost something, what happens when Scorpius helps him find it?

**A/N: **This was what xNomii gave me when I was complaining about wanting to write but not having inspiration (shoosh, I know I have a play to finish, I don't care.) I'm glad the word count was over 200 words. I don't think I would've been able to do under. HOPE YOU ENJOY IT!

Zzz

**The Game of Life**

Louis was frustrated, to say the least. He ran a hand through his blond hair, one hand on his hip as he sighed in irritation, looking around the space he occupied, brows pulled together in a scowl. This was not his day. First he had woken up late; almost missed breakfast, been late to his first class because he'd decided he'd rather not get indigestion and eat like a normal human being, for his standards anyway, and now had lost the game he promised it would give to Lucy. He'd searched his bag to no such luck, and then searched the desk he was sat at with similar results.

It wasn't until he heard a familiar voice behind him that he really wished the ground would swallow him whole.

"Hello, Louis. Are you looking for something?"

He pinched his temples, sucking in a breath and exhaling slowly to calm himself, counting to ten. To his credit, the Slytherin boy simply stood and waited for Louis to finish.

"Hello, Scorpius," he greeted in a dry voice. "Can I help you with something?"

As he turned to face the other blond, he found himself instantly drawn into the grey pools of molten steel, pale skin and white-blond hair making them seem so much darker than they were. They were dangerous. Louis made sure his mind understood this.

"Nothing in particular, just thought I might be able to help you with something," Scorpius replied with his usual nonchalant tone, lopsided smile gracing his face.

Louis found himself counting again, quick to answer. "No, I'm fine."

He'd been raised with more manners, but he had a history with the other blond that made him pretty sure they weren't required here.

This didn't stop Scorpius from looking like he'd won however. Bloody useless piece of-! "If you're sure. I'll go get back to my work then, shall I?" he gave an unnecessary bow and returned to a lone table across the room from the older boy, with a subtle skip to his step.

The Gryffindor boy turned back to his table and glared at the book in front of him, threatening to set it on fire if it didn't tell him where the game was.

It didn't give in.

Half an hour later, it was slowly becoming apparent that Louis was not going to find it on his own.

He found himself standing in front of his table again, sighing and placing his hands on his hips, pouting slightly as he scanned the room, eyes landing, once again, on a pair of molten steel ones once again, which were observing him curiously with that same smugness. Like he was saying _I told you so_. It wasn't making Louis want his help any more.

The Weasley sighed again and left his things at the table, pleased that in the half hour he'd spent wandering about trying to find what he'd misplaced the library had cleared, and walked across the room with a determined look in his eyes, ready for the awkward prat to change his mind at any moment about offering help. Louis stood in front of Scorpius, the boy regarding him lazily with the same smirk as earlier, expectant look in his eyes.

"Hello, Louis," he said again, and the older boy knew he hadn't imagined it. "Can I help you with something?"

"I lost a game and I need to find it."

Grey eyes widened in mock-horror. "Really? Well, that is a shame. Good luck though," he said, not bothering to hide his triumph as he turned back to the book.

Louis sucked up all his pride. Having it crushed by Scorpius was a lot better than laying himself before Lucy's wrath. "I need help finding it."

"You've left it a little late, haven't you? Most people have already begun to get ready for dinner."

Shit, it was almost dinner time? No wonder the library seemed to empty. "Are you going to make me say it?" Louis demanded, putting on his best Dominique impression he could, an angry patronising look.

It didn't work.

"You're lucky I'm not making you get on your knees and beg," Scorpius replied, eyes glinting and a coy look taking over his face that said yes, there was a double meaning to those words.

Louis couldn't hide the blush that lit up his face, only worsening when he received a chuckle. "Please can you help me find my game, Scorpius?"

"No need to be so formal," Scorpius teased, leaning forward slightly and putting his chin in his palm. "I believe most of your family has come to call me 'Scorp', haven't they?"

The Gryffindor grimaced at the reminder of Albus' friendship with the boy in front of him. "Fine, can you help me find my game, _Scorp_?"

The grin that flashed across the Malfoy's face made Louis feel slightly weak at the knees. "Why I never thought you'd ask! So tell me, when did you last see this game?"

Louis hummed in thought, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "I put it in my bag this morning. I didn't really check to make sure it was there through the day."

"Is it big?" Scorpius pressed. "Would you have noticed if it had fallen out?"

"It's pretty big, yeah, but I'd got a shrinking charm on it to make it easier to carry around, so it wouldn't take up as much space."

"I see," the blond boy leant back in his chair and rapped his fingernails against the wooden table. Louis couldn't help but roll his eyes. "And when, pray tell, did you realise you lost it?"

"Round about an hour ago when I got here and reached into my bag."

Scorpius raised his brows. "Do you not reach into your bag during your classes?"

Louis huffed. "Yes, but I don't need to forage through my bag for my books. I usually know what order I've put them into my bag in."

That annoyingly teasing smirk was back. "And here I was expecting you do say you didn't go to class. I would've thought you'd be too busy eating."

"Oh, fuck off."

"That's no way to speak to someone who's helping you."

"You're not being very helpful."

"I've managed to discover that between the Ravenclaw towers, the kitchens, you're Charms, Defence, Potions and Ancient Runes classrooms, and the library you lost your game, which is shrunken for portability, and there's a chance it fell out of your bag."

Louis glared. "How the hell do you know what classes I've had today?"

"It's a vital part of stalking someone, knowing where they are and when," Scorpius said with an increasingly dark smirk. "You had double Potions, did you not? And no doubt failed miserably as usual."

"I did not!" Louis snapped, bristling at the accusation. "I passed perfectly well!"

"But your standards for passing are much higher than most."

Louis was sufficiently freaked out. "Screw this; I'm going to find the game on my own."

"No you're not, you're going to sit down and we're going to work out a route on how we will search for your game."

Much to the Weasley's objection, he found himself automatically sitting down with a huff, reluctantly admitting that he did want Scorpius' help. And only his help. Because he disliked the smug, arrogant, blond, obnoxious, too-elegant, evil prat and most certainly didn't want to spend any time with him for recreational purposes.

Cripes, he was blushing easily today.

Thankfully Scorpius didn't comment on his sudden hot flush, merely turning his attention to the paper in front of him, readying his quill and frowning slightly as he wrote down the places Louis had been with smooth cursive letters that looked like they'd been taken out of some kind of eighteenth century letter to the queen. Blue eyes admired the writing, and the long fingers that wrote. And the pale jaw that seemed so gently feminine without making him look like a girl.

He really needed to get laid or something.

"Is there anywhere else you went today?"

"You're the stalker, you tell me!"

Louis was pretty sure he hadn't intended his snappy anger to be met with a casual chuckle and a fond smile that was oddly handsome on the boy's face. Handsome like-like-a horned slug. Yeah.

"Has anyone ever told you how adorable you are when you're angry?"

"Has anyone ever told you-?" he cut off, flustering heavily once again, unable to think of a comeback. He couldn't _stand _that smug face. "To put a sock in it?"

"I can think of many things people have told me to put in _it_, but never a sock."

"Let's just go," the older boy muttered, standing and nearly knocking his chair over, heading towards the exit of the library. "We're doing this in reverse order, right?"

A smirk. "Correct."

Zzz

It was useless. Louis decided this when they reached the Defence classroom, his shoulders slumping. He didn't know why Lucy had insisted on having an anti-accio charm placed on the pile of crap; it wasn't like anyone wanted to steal a muggle board game. These were the situations it was made for.

His companion gave him a rough pat on the back and grinned brightly, like the world wasn't about to cave in with the anger of Lucy Weasley. "Cheer up, we'll find it eventually."

"How can you say that? Dinner's already started and my cousin will kill me when she finds out I've lost it."

"Well, we'll just have to find it before then."

"For a Slytherin you're surprisingly happy."

"For a Gryffindor you're surprisingly a major downer."

Louis just continued to grumble.

They entered the Charms classroom and began to look around, Scorpius taking one side of the classroom and Louis taking the other. They began to search in silence for a while; the only sounds the shuffling of chairs and the cursing of Louis smacking his head on a desk, much to Scorpius' amusement. It was the latter who broke the silence.

"So, this game, is it any good?"

"Yeah, we used to play it all the time as kids. It's one of Lucy's favourite games, and she let us borrow it for Rose's birthday party. They all decided to trust me to give it back to her."

"And you're the most trust worthy of your Gryffindor-relatives?"

"Probably."

They slipped into silence once again.

"Al might want to play it, if he knows that Lucy's got it here with her. She had to have her parents send it from home."

Scorpius smiled slightly gratefully. "I'll keep that in mind."

And another silence.

"Of course, I can't let him win. I have to learn to play with someone honourable first, else he'll cheat. Your cousin is an awful cheat, you know that?"

Louis chuckled. "Oh, I definitely know how terrible he is. And I guess," he cringed slightly at the words that were formulating in his head. "You know, seeing as you helped me find it, I could teach you how to play."

"What about getting it straight to Hufflepuff-Weasley?"

"She can wait a little bit longer."

Scorpius nodded, smile still on his face, looking across under the desks separating them. When the boy looked so tender and soft like that, there was no way Louis could deny how attractive he was.

Though his appearance was the only attractive thing.

Damn it, why did his skin have to be so fair? Roxanne never had a problem with blushing.

"I'd really like that."

Silence, once again.

"So, as an honourable Gryffindor, would you promise me that if I found it you would play a game with me?"

Louis rolled his eyes. "Yes, I promise."

"Even if you changed your mind?"

Blue eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Just answer."

"I promise."

Scorpius grinned, standing and brushing off his robes, pulling something out his pocket and placing it on a desk between them. "Found it."

The older boy stood also, staring down in awe at the shrunken game. "What?"

"I found it. Now play it with me."

"You're fucking me."

"Well, if you're offering…"

Louis flustered, growling lightly and stomping his foot. It was not an action he was proud of. "You've had it all along?"

"Why do you think I've been stalking you? I've been trying to steal it all day."

The usually low voice raised two octaves. "You stole my game!"

"Lucy's game."

"You pickpocketed me!"

"Very successfully, you might want to consider the idea of putting protection charms on your things."

"You asshole!" Louis snapped, reaching across the desk to grab the box.

It was stolen from his grasp as his fingertips touched it.

He looked up to see Scorpius smirking down at him, brows raised in that smug way he always did. "Ah, ah, ah, you promised me a game."

"Fuck that shit, you stole it! You didn't find it at all!"

"You've got a surprisingly dirty mouth, Louis," the Malfoy purred.

"Don't you pull that-that-_seductive _crap on me! I can't believe you expect me to still play with you!"

Scorpius grinned brightly, waving the box. "I would recommend we go to the kitchens to play, so that we can get some food while we're there. Or your dormitory," he waggled his brows. "Or mine."

"You're a right git."

"Come on! It'll be fun!"

Louis knew he couldn't say no.

Zzz

Louis rolled his eyes as Scorpius scrunched up his nose at reaching the marriage point, finding an amused smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "It's all part of the game, Scorp."

The pair were sat on the floor of the kitchens, the elves preparing their food, cushions underneath them to keep them comfy. By Scorpius' request.

"Marriage is for girls," the boy said slightly childishly, before nodding to the bag on Louis' side of the board. "Give me another blue one then."

"What?"

Scorpius raised a brow. "You heard me, I have to get married."

"You're supposed to have a pink one. They're the girls."

"I don't like girls."

"Girls don't have cooties, you know."

"No, they do. They have gross cooties. Why can't I have a husband?"

Louis shifted awkwardly, glancing away for a moment. There was no reason the boy couldn't. In fact, Louis himself would prefer to have a blue peg next to his own. "It's just the way you play it."

"It's called the Game of Life, right?" Scorpius gestured for the bag again. "In life some men marry men. Particularly me. Though I hope my partner will see sense to realise marriage is a pile of bullshit."

Well, that was a confession if he ever heard one. Louis did as he was told, pulling a blue peg out of the bag and sticking it into Scorpius' green car, letting out a small breath he didn't realise he'd been holding. There was something oddly comforting about watching the two blue pegs sitting in the small car together.

"Your turn, handsome."

The Gryffindor barely managed to pull a face of disgust that time. "You're a terrible flirt, did you know that?"

"Only for you."

Louis knew it wasn't 'only for him'. Scorpius had a reputation as a terrible flirt generally. The amount of times he'd seen Scorpius hang himself all over Albus despite his little cousin having a girlfriend was more than he could count.

"So," he started, spinning the island spinner. "Blue peg, huh?"

Way to be smooth.

Scorpius' brow twitched, a playful smirk adorning his face, an unreadable look in the grey eyes as they watched Louis carefully, glancing back down at the board. "It appears it's your turn, blue or pink? Or shall I guess for you?"

Louis swallowed a lump in his throat, his heartbeat rising steadily as he reached for the bag, staring into the depths. He'd never really considered not picking pink. It was just natural. Everyone picked the opposite colour to the one they had.

But not everyone was here.

He reached his hand in shutting his eye and looking up, fumbling around in the bag. There was another chuckle from the other side of the board, and one eye opened to see what Scorpius' reaction was. The boy seeming highly entertained, his eyes glittering with mirth, mouth pulled up into a smile. Louis felt his own lips forming a smile as he pulled out a peg.

He scrunched his nose up at the pink peg.

"Cooties," he agreed, putting it into his red car anyway.

"Red and pink clash horribly, don't you know?"

The Weasley simply laughed an honest, happy laugh. "Just take your go."

It wasn't until about half way through the game anything other than small talk happened.

Louis landed on another tile, cursing his bad luck at missing the children tile again, earning a snicker from Scorpius, who seemed to find the goal to get as many children as the small car could fit to be incredibly amusing. Their food had arrived, and they were slowly progressing through it. Well, as slowly as two growing teenage boys could.

"Al was the one who started it," Louis insisted. "He always loved putting the pegs into the slots and thought the point of the game was to fill the car up."

"I'll make sure I tell him that when I get back to the dorms."

"You should."

Scorpius leant forward, picking his car and pulling the passenger out of the seat, tossing the peg over his shoulder with a shout of protest from Louis. "It's my go," Scorpius supplied. "And I've decided my _marriage _is doomed and I'm getting a divorce."

"You can't get a divorce."

The younger boy put the piece back on the board and gave an oddly dazzling smile. "I can and I have."

Louis rolled his eyes. "What about the children?"

"They're better off without him. I'll find a replacement," he smirked. "Perhaps I should save you from your loveless marriage full of pink pegs and Weasley spawn?"

"No thanks."

And the game continued.

Throughout the game Scorpius made his proposal over and over, Louis politely declining every time with a small smile, as if they had an inside joke together, despite there never being one. The tension in the air that had been there earlier that day when they left the library had dissolved, and was becoming increasingly suggestive- on both sides. Louis found himself thinking less about what an arrogant snob the Slytherin was, and more of how handsome he was, and surprisingly playful. On one occasion he had even found himself initiating the flirting.

So Scorpius wasn't too bad for company. He was certainly entertaining enough. And definitely easy on the eyes.

"Come on then, what' so good about this broad then?" Scorpius questioned, unable to keep the smirk off his face, nearing the end and obviously winning. "I could make you rich and give you," he paused to count them. "Four children. How many children do you have now?"

"One."

"Albus would be ashamed."

Louis chuckled, spinning the island again. "I'm faithful. I've made a commitment and I'm keeping to it," he answered, moving the allocated spaces.

A wicked grin passed over the Malfoy's face. "Clearly I'll have to take desperate measures."

"What- hey!" Louis lunged forward as Scorpius swiped the red car from the board, laughing slightly despite trying to sound angry. "Give that back!"

"I'm going to have to kidnap you," Scorpius declared, pulling the blue peg from the red car. "Save you from the cooties."

"I'll call the police!"

"Not before I've talked some sense into you!"

"I'll resent you forever for stealing me from my family!"

Scorpius wiggled his brows, holding the peg high above his head. "Are you sure you'll be able to resist once I've made sweet, sweet love to you?"

Louis blushed like the virgin he was, pouting slightly and swiping the green car from the table. "Ha! Got you now!" he declared. "You can't marry us without your car."

"Then I'll just have to get it back!" Scorpius replied, probably louder than necessary, jumping forward with Louis' peg tightly gripped in his hand and flying across the board, grinning happily as he tried to snatch at the piece, Louis yelping slightly as he suddenly had a lap full of Scorpius, not relenting however, pulling his hand back to keep the car out of reach.

Both boys began to laugh, letting out noises of surprise as they toppled over.

It didn't stop them. Louis held the piece high above his head, Scorpius beginning to scramble above him, making Louis flip them over to keep Scorpius pinned to the ground, panting slightly despite himself as he found himself between the boy' legs, one hand on Scorpius' chest, looking down into the slightly flushed face, the boy sprawled out in front of him. The Gryffindor licked his lips, searching those molten steel eyes.

"I bet your wife never wrestled with you."

"This isn't exactly wrestling."

"I can show you wrestling!"

Louis laughed as his hand kept Scorpius pinned to the floor. "Please, you wish you were stronger than me."

The younger boy pouted in a very un-Scorpius manner.

Louis' face softened, relaxing slightly and lowering his arm, curiosity lighting up in the grey eyes as the flickered to the car, looking like a cat ready to pounce. Louis smiled at this, sitting up slightly and taking the hand that had the blue peg in his own, positioning the car and placing the Louis peg into the passenger seat.

Blue met grey, and he simply continued to smile at the hopeful and slightly puzzled look on the other blonde's face. "There," Louis said. "I think I might be happier with you than some broad any day."

Scorpius' hopefully puzzled face took on a slightly devious grin. "I think I'd rather put my peg into your-mmph?"

Louis scowled down at the boy, a bread roll stuffed in his hand, forcing it into his victim's mouth, face hot with embarrassment. "Shut it, Malfoy."

He was received with a face full off mash. The war was on.

By the time their food fight was finished, Louis was thoroughly exhausted, a massive grin on his face, not caring about the potatoes and broccoli in his hair. He didn't like broccoli anyway. It wasn't like he planned on eating it.

Scorpius loomed above him, light making a halo on his white-blond hair, molten steel looking down at him with fondness.

Merlin he had to stop reading his sister's novels. And think of some other way of describing Scorpius' eyes.

"So, seeing as you're now living cushy with my money and four kids, does this mean I can call you my husband?"

"How about we start with boyfriend," Louis said with an amused smirk. "Assuming our first date goes well. I'm part Veela and half French you know; it'll take a lot to impress me."

"I'll spare no expense," Scorpius purred, leaning down slightly and hovering an inch above Louis' nose, one hand running down his side. A slightly freckled hand stopped it in its tracks, holding it against his side. "I assume this means I'm forgiven for stealing the game?"

The Gryffindor gave a mock-suspicious look. "Now that you mention it, perhaps I'll have to decline your oh so romantic proposal."

Before he knew it, there were lips on his own, catching him by surprise and pulling a muffled yelp from him.

Louis felt himself being drawn in, the sound of his heart heavy in his chest, eyes slipping shut as he found himself being taken in by the magic that was _kissing Scorpius Malfoy_, something he had heard was very intoxicating, but he wasn't quite braced for just how.

Before he even had time to recover the boy was pulling back, smirking down at the Gryffindor, thumb stroking over his side, a knowing look in his eyes. "You sure about that?"

Louis simply wrapped a hand into the soft strands of hair and pulled Scorpius back down for more.


End file.
